Hey! Aspiring vis artist here

[matthewfloyd]

Hi!

 

So quick bit of background, I finished university a year ago, 3d modelling for games. Since I got a job in a kitchen company as a 3D artist, since I have been using a lot of 3ds max and vray.

 

Anyway I have been using 3ds and vray for around 5 weeks, and looking to change my career into the vray route.

 

My portfolio is http://www.mattfloyd3d.com

 

At the moment, its very gamey with a little bit of vray.

 

Any feedback about the direction I should be going would be great. As I was recently offered a job that did involve VRAY however the company offered me a salary that I had to turn down due to I would have been unable to rent and live comfortably in the area they are based. Im lead to believe that the average salary for a junior is around 20k/25k (GBP) (depending where it is based ofc).

 

What should I expect?

 

Looking forward to being active on this forum, cheers.

Matt

Edited July 28, 2014 by matthewfloyd

[philippelamoureux]

I think you should try to work for an architectual firm. I've read many times that it's where the salaries are the best (to start at least). I might be wrong but it's my feeling. Maybe we could add some personnal work done with vray in your portofolio too!

[notamondayfan]

Hi!

 

looking to change my career into the vray route.

 

What do you mean by this? Vray is a piece of software, not a career route. Don't bank on 1 piece of software getting you a job.

 

Hi!

Im lead to believe that the average salary for a junior is around 20k/25k (GBP) (depending where it is based ofc).

Matt

 

I think £25k for a junior role is optimistic, but might be achievable in a London / South studio.

[matthewfloyd]

What do you mean by this? Vray is a piece of software, not a career route. Don't bank on 1 piece of software getting you a job.

 

 

 

I think £25k for a junior role is optimistic, but might be achievable in a London / South studio.

 

Sorry what I meant by the VRAY route was just more realistic rendering rather than games, id never bank on one piece of software getting me a job however you've gotta start somewhere right?. and yeah I figure 25k may be the higher end of the starting rate

[notamondayfan]

Why not push the realism in the place you are at now? Is there a team there? The kitchen industry is really growing in terms of 3D visuals, just take a look at the Ikea article on CGSociety.

[matthewfloyd]

Why not push the realism in the place you are at now? Is there a team there? The kitchen industry is really growing in terms of 3D visuals, just take a look at the Ikea article on CGSociety.

 

Impressive stuff at ikea, interesting article. I work within the kitchen planner at the moment, I get to use vray a little bit when we are taking product shots that we don't have, however I mainly work within maya/unity. I pretty much just learn VRAY in my spare time.

 

Is vray the program to learn? its the program that is used in house, would mental ray be better suited? or maybe even renderman when its released?

 

I'm pretty new to the scene to be honest, as you will be able to see from my portfolio (http://www.mattfloyd3d.com) my work isn't the best, however im always unsure what companies look for in juniors. As the job I was offered a couple of weeks ago offered me a really low wage that I couldn't believe anyone could accept.

[neil poppleton]

Im not sure your location but 20-25k seems optimistic unless in London. WOuld have thought Junior level 20k top price, dependant on experience etc

[matthewfloyd]

Im not sure your location but 20-25k seems optimistic unless in London. WOuld have thought Junior level 20k top price, dependant on experience etc

 

Yeah I am mainly looking in london. Or somewhere just outside of london.

[notamondayfan]

Also taking a low wage to get your foot in the door can be a good thing. My first CG job in an architects 8 years paid £12k, but that soon rose when they saw what I could do, and that job lead to another job, and eventually to freelancing.

[Scott Schroeder]

In an architecture firm, Max + Vray is generally the software of choice. Maya is .1% of all architecture firms. Renderman won't make much of a splash in the viz industry either. Not that it's not a good system, but asking a company to re-tool their entire rendering pipeline will take much more than some PR magic from Renderman. But here's the big thing, if you know Vray you can use Mental Ray/Renderman/Corona/Scanline/Brazil/etc. All you need to learn is where the buttons are, but making awesome materials and lighting is a pretty universal knowledge. So don't get so wrapped up in the idea that X software is the only way when it is more about the technique you use within X software that is important.

 

What is this low wage? Is it low or is it "low". Meaning, could you not afford mac and cheese or could you not afford caviar? Architecture firms are somewhat notorious for paying entry level people pretty low. If you are looking for entry level positions in an expensive area, be prepared to see those low wages. My first job was in the heart of Orange County Southern California and I started at $36,000. So needless to say for the first year my paycheck went to food and rent, and that's about it. But, like Dean, within a year or so once they saw that I could thrive within their system, I was given a pretty hefty raise and given some cooler projects and more responsibility on them.

 

When I hire an entry level person, I look for their core skill. Do they understand lighting, composition, materials, color balancing, etc. I really don't care if they know every piece of software because I can train you. But I don't want to train you in things you should already know, like the things I had previously mentioned. Plus, entry level artists tend to get put on jobs that are very linear and very strict in what we want you to deliver so the ability to follow instructions and stay within parameters is a must. I don't want some rouge artist going AWOL and doing his or her own thing. Software skills are pretty average on the list when it comes to things most employers look for.

[matthewfloyd]

In an architecture firm, Max + Vray is generally the software of choice. Maya is .1% of all architecture firms. Renderman won't make much of a splash in the viz industry either. Not that it's not a good system, but asking a company to re-tool their entire rendering pipeline will take much more than some PR magic from Renderman. But here's the big thing, if you know Vray you can use Mental Ray/Renderman/Corona/Scanline/Brazil/etc. All you need to learn is where the buttons are, but making awesome materials and lighting is a pretty universal knowledge. So don't get so wrapped up in the idea that X software is the only way when it is more about the technique you use within X software that is important.

 

What is this low wage? Is it low or is it "low". Meaning, could you not afford mac and cheese or could you not afford caviar? Architecture firms are somewhat notorious for paying entry level people pretty low. If you are looking for entry level positions in an expensive area, be prepared to see those low wages. My first job was in the heart of Orange County Southern California and I started at $36,000. So needless to say for the first year my paycheck went to food and rent, and that's about it. But, like Dean, within a year or so once they saw that I could thrive within their system, I was given a pretty hefty raise and given some cooler projects and more responsibility on them.

 

When I hire an entry level person, I look for their core skill. Do they understand lighting, composition, materials, color balancing, etc. I really don't care if they know every piece of software because I can train you. But I don't want to train you in things you should already know, like the things I had previously mentioned. Plus, entry level artists tend to get put on jobs that are very linear and very strict in what we want you to deliver so the ability to follow instructions and stay within parameters is a must. I don't want some rouge artist going AWOL and doing his or her own thing. Software skills are pretty average on the list when it comes to things most employers look for.

 

 

Thanks for the response, I don't really want to go into details, in case anyone from the studio is browsing around this forum. However this studio was based not to far from London in an area which is quite expensive. The wage the offered me was only just above minimum wage. Even if they upped it after 6 months or a year, sadly wouldn't have been enough. This isn't saying I expect the world, as I don't, id be more than happy to work for a low wage, only if it meant I was comfortable within the area.

 

Can I ask what you lot think of my portfolio? If you was hiring someone for a junior job, what kinda scene would you like to see, or like you say, just scenes that show I know composition and lighting. Im guessing the scene does not matter to much?

[Scott Schroeder]

Then good on your for realizing that you have to live above all else. Sometimes it is hard when someone says a low wage as to what they really mean. If it was just above the pay scale of the fry guy at McD's, then by all means turn it down.

 

I really don't look for a particular scene. Where I currently work, we specialize in sports venues so we have a pretty narrow scope of what we do. Do I expect a new hire to have a stadium render in their portfolio? Not really, but it would be nice to see. We tend to look more for your design skill. We often get napkin sketches or raw massing models and we are left up to our devices to design the building and give it detail. While this sounds simple, it has tripped up more hew hires than I would have expected. Can you do that or are you better suited working in a place that has much more structure involved, meaning you are given full designs, full materials, full specs, and just have to build the scene and render.

 

Your portfolio is about average for an entry level. But you do lack composition in most of your interior scenes. I would remove your backlit car shot from the front page. While backlit shots can work, yours does not and it comes off as a dumpy mobile phone pic with a lens that couldn't balance brightness of the sun. Your game scenes are dark and heavily contrasted. It really muddies up what you are trying to show. Everyone does something from the Hobbit/LOTR and even more so for Bilbo's home. If you choose those scenes, you really really need to stand above the rest. Ditto on the Claptrap model.

 

My advice is find a few firms that you really want to work for and target them. See what they do and create pieces for that. At worst, you end up with a good looking portfolio and working at a place you may not have targeted.

 

Ultimately, the biggest piece of advice I can give you for your portfolio is simple. Make me care. Make me care about giving you a call back.

 

While this TED talk is about more than arch viz, the underlying message is pretty solid about crafting works that draw in the viewer.

[matthewfloyd]

Thanks for taking the time for all that mate, cheers for criting my portfolio, going to look into redesigning it, will take the time to go through what you said later tonight. Will look into the scenes I already have and probably remove some and look into what to replace it with. But yeah, thanks again mate, all good stuff.